Animal Man #23Review

Monologuing villains are a tired trope of comics, yet somehow Jeff Lemire manages to make Brother Blood a badass despite the fact that he just talks a lot and blows stuff up. Blood isn’t the deepest of bad guys, but his momentous and devastating attack this issue puts him in the position to become a top tier villain, not only for Animal Man, but anyone with a cape. Seriously, this guy shows up and wrecks just about everything you’ve ever loved about the Red. Even though Animal Man is not a part of Villains Month, he’s getting a full dose of it here.

Art duties are again divided between Steve Pugh and Francis Portela, and again they produce fantastic results. While their styles have some notable differences, the split narrative makes it a non-issue. Pugh serves up some horrific goodness with the creepy-as-hell animal-people, while Portela cuts loose by showing the full wonder of Maxine’s version of the Red.

Get this: there’s a pirate ship called the Freckled Manatee that’s actually a structure of bones atop the back of a giant manatee and -- here’s the best part -- it’s captained by a giraffe in full pirate regalia (eye patch, wooden leg, hat) named Captain Longneck. During Rotworld, there was a shot of Beast Boy as a giraffe wearing Monsieur Mallah’s hat and ammunition belt. I don’t know what Lemire’s fascination with dressing up giraffes is, but I never want it to stop.

This issue also continues to explore Maxine’s powers as well as her childlike naivety. It’s sad as anything to watch her try to bring Cliff back, and it acts as a poignant parallel to Buddy’s own trials of grief. For the Buddy scenes, Lemire continues to implement social media into the book, and while the Twitter feed bit isn’t used as effectively as it was in a previous issue, it does help flesh out the celebrity element of Buddy’s ever-fascinating character.

Joshua writes for IGN. If Pokemon, Game of Thrones, or Green Lantern are frequently used words in your vocabulary, then you’ll want to follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Animal Man [2011] #23

In the shocking conclusion of "Splinter Species," Brother Blood and a stunning murder have Animal Man on the brink of extinction!